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Of marketing, society, behavior, and everything in between

Don’t be an Expert…Be a Geek.

Too many people in the marketing and communications industry call themselves experts, gurus, specialists, advocates, and other elitist terms.

How can you be an expert of something constantly changing?

Maybe I should ask an expert. Hmm.

Allow me to try to convince you that it is better to be known as a geek in your subject of expertise (and for the sake of this blog, we’ll stick with marketing) than an expert.

1. Geeks have a Passion for the subjectSure, the definition of expert implies a mastery of a particular subject, but does it denote a love for it? According to the definition, it does not. Ah, but a geek! Everybody has a geek in their group of friends. Everybody has that one person that can explain life through a football example, or compare an event to the cell phone industry, or can break down a commercial because of the colors used. And in the definition for geek, there is that one word that separates it from expert- Enthusiast. You can develop a skill…a passion comes naturally.

2. People like Enthusiasm more than Intelligence
Perfect example: George W. Bush vs. John Kerry. Kerry seemed to be the more intelligent of the two, but who won the audience? Who seemed human, and enjoyed being there? It is human nature to be attracted to a smile than a statistic. A geek is a scary form of human being because they can showcase enthusiasm for a statistic. Wonderful.

3. Geeks KNOW that their not Experts
Like the old proverb “Fools think they know, when the wise know they still have much to learn”. Listen to those people that have a lot of information, but still admits that there is more information out there. The best teacher is a solid learner.